We have cloned an unusual colourless green fluorescent protein (GFP)-like protein from Aequorea coerulescens (acGFPL). The A. coerulescens specimens displayed blue (not green) luminescence, and no fluorescence was detected in these medusae. Escherichia coli expressing wild-type acGFPL showed neither fluorescence nor visible coloration. Random mutagenesis generated green fluorescent mutants of a...

Habitat heterogeneity has been shown to promote co-existence of closely related species. Based on this concept, a field study was conducted on the niche partitioning of three territorial congeneric species of skimmers (Anisoptera: Libellulidae) in Northeast Algeria during the breeding season of 2011. According to their size, there is a descending hierarchy between Orthetrum nitidinerve Sélys, O...

Human Alternative Macrophages Populate Calcified Areas of Atherosclerotic Lesions and Display Impaired RANKL-Induced Osteoclastic Bone Resorption Activity Giulia Chinetti-Gbaguidi, Mehdi Daoudi, Mickael Rosa, Manjula Vinod, Loïc Louvet, Corinne Copin, Mélanie Fanchon, Jonathan Vanhoutte, Bruno Derudas, Loic Belloy, Stephan Haulon, Christophe Zawadzki, Sophie Susen, Ziad A. Massy, Jérôme Eeckho...

Statement Hereby I confirm that this thesis is my own work and that I have documented all sources used. Herewith I agree that my thesis will be made available through the library of the Com-2 Acknowledgements I want to thank the following people who made this work possible: Prof. Joachim Weickert for accepting my proposal as the topic of my Master's Thesis. Prof. Andrés Bruhn for again agreeing...

Ceratocystis coerulescens RWD 451 (Ascomycetes) was cultivated on defined synthetic culture medium containing glucose (3.0% ), asparagine (0.1% ), mineral salts and thiamine. 6 weeks oid cultures produced methyl heptenyl compounds, citronellol. citronellyl acetate, dihydro-farnesol and a hitherto unknown monoterpene alcohol. By GC/MS, 'H and l3C NMR spectroscopy, this alcohol could be identifie...

Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) are the most polymorphic functional loci in mammalian populations, but little is known of Mhc variability in natural populations of nonmammalian vertebrates. To help extend such studies to birds and relatives, we present a pair of degenerate primers that amplify polymorphic segments of one chain (the beta chain) of the class II genes from the ...

Anantin, a peptide binding to the receptor of the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) was isolated from a strain of Streptomyces coerulescens. The molecule consists of 17 natural L-amino acids which form a peptidic ring system. It has a MW of 1,871.0. The chemical composition is C90H111N21O24. The compound was found to bind competitively to ANF-receptors from bovine adrenal cortex (Kd = 0.61 microM...